State's speed cameras shuttered at midnight Thursday
PHOENIX — The state's photo radar cameras get turned off at midnight Thursday, a move the soon-to-be former system operator insists will result in more speeders — and more accidents.
Shoba Vaitheeswaran, spokeswoman for Redflex Traffic Systems, said a study of photo enforcement on a stretch of Loop 101 in Scottsdale showed that speeds dropped significantly after the cameras were installed. Conversely, she said, the evidence showed that when the cameras were turned off, people started speeding again — a lot.
And the Scottsdale situation is not unique, Vaitheeswaran said.
“We know from past experiences, and what we have learned, is when government agencies have opted to deactivate road safety camera systems, that speeds will spike to dangerous levels,'' she said.
After the cameras were installed in 2007 on Loop 101, average speeds fell by 9 miles per hour, according to a study done by the Arizona Department of Transportation and Arizona State University. Total crashes also dropped by more than half, with injury crashes down 48 percent.
On the other side of the equation, when the experiment ended and cameras were turned off — something that was announced publicly — the number of vehicles driving at least 11 mph over the posted 65 mph speed limit jumped by a factor of 10.
Vaitheeswaran said, though, there is nothing in that post-radar study about the accident rate.
The cameras are going dark because Gov. Jan Brewer, who inherited the program from her predecessor, ordered the Department of Public Safety not to renew the two-year contract with Redflex. That contract expires tonight.
Gubernatorial press aide Paul Senseman brushed aside questions of safety. “The governor's main concern is that Arizonans are treated fairly and that justice is properly served.”
One of those issues, Senseman said, is privacy.
“I think her concerns have been of having Big Brother monitoring specific areas all the time,'' he said. The state had 36 permanent monitoring locations and 40 mobile photo radar vans.
One issue is that it wasn't just errant motorists being photographed. DPS admitted shortly after the program started that each unit electronically records all traffic and keeps that information for 90 days.
Senseman also said Brewer does not like the fact the system was set up in a way designed to generate money for the state by convincing motorists not to fight the tickets.
The legislation passed at the behest of then-Gov. Janet Napolitano said drivers caught speeding by one of the cameras in the state system would not have the citations reported to their insurance companies. Many motorists fight tickets because insurers use them to determine whether to hike premiums.
The system also was set up so that the tickets did not accumulate “points'' on a motorist's license. Eight points in a year send a motorist to traffic survival school; 12 points suspend a license.
Under the terms of the contract, Redflex got a share of every $185 citation actually paid on a sliding scale, up to $28.75.
Senseman said Brewer believes there needs to be both full debate at the Legislature and a public vote before such a statewide photo enforcement program is reinstituted.
Nothing in the decision to kill Arizona's contract with Redflex affects photo enforcement systems operated by cities and counties.
By the numbers:
• Photos taken of speeding vehicles — 2,758,700
• Notices of violation sent — 1,195,935 (Balance includes photos where the driver or license plate were not readily visible, or where it was clear that the person in the photo could not be the registered owner.)
• Notices actually paid — 432,367
• Amount paid at $185 per citation — $79,987,895
- Amount netted to state — Undetermined (Redflex was entitled to keep anywhere from $16.95 to $28.75 out of every paid citation.)
Source: Arizona Department of Public Safety
